//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Rainbow Dash's Secret // Story: Secrets Shine Brighter // by MemoryLane //------------------------------//         Twilight shivered inwardly and let a cold breath puff from her dry mouth. Her brain was swirling in a stupor that she had never experienced before. She wanted to go numb, but that little voice in the back of her mind was telling her to take action. She didn’t know what to do or say, all she could do was stand there with shaking knees.         She turned her head back to the mist behind her. She could hear Fluttershy’s wails in the distance, and it killed her inside. She had never heard Fluttershy make such a loud noise before, so there was no doubt in her mind that it was genuine.         Twilight shed a lone tear. Her brain was frozen, and something inside of her made her heart feel horrendously heavy. There were many things that could be done, she was merely having trouble organizing them efficiently. Twilight did her best not to look at the Stetson that sat like a tombstone on Fluttershy’s porch.         With a heavy sigh, Twilight mustered up her strength and turned around. This was only the beginning of what might just be the worst to come, and she despised thinking about it. There was no way she was going to let Rarity and Pinkie see the secret. She didn’t care about the rules, or if her secret was projected through the skies. She didn’t care of the repercussions. All she wanted for everything to be alright again, and she was willing to sacrifice her sanity to do just that.         She walked the lonely trail back through the fog with her head held low. It was a quicker trip than she imagined and left her desperately grasping for the right words as she drew nearer to her friends. Rarity was lying on the ground next to Fluttershy, running a hoof through her rosy mane. Fluttershy had done the same thing to her when they had seen her secret, the least she could do was return the favor.         Pinkie Pie was trying desperately to cheer Fluttershy up any way she could. Whether it be confetti, balloons, or whatever else she had on hoof. Twilight knew this, because most of the items in question were lying around near the three of them. Pinkie had desperately resorted to telling jokes and semi-funny stories.         Twilight relented on the fact that each and every one of her friends were delving into their own bouts of sadness and depression. She stood above the three mares and pondered just what would be the best thing to say to them. For once in her life, Twilight Sparkle just didn’t know what to do.         Rarity looked up, almost doing a double take upon seeing Twilight’s return. “Oh!” Rarity fussed about, ready to stand up to speak to Twilight face to face. However, her common sense told her that she was needed on the ground with Fluttershy. “Twilight… what happened? Why did Applejack say those things?” Fluttershy shivered just slightly, but somehow Twilight managed to take notice. She responded accordingly.         “I feel as if the words on Fluttershy’s house are… not meant for any pony's eyes.” Twilight said. She already knew what Rarity’s response would be, and wanted to let out a small chuckle as Rarity replied just how she expected. Rarity had a tendency to be slightly predictable, Twilight already knew that.         “Twilight, that’s not very fair to say. Nopony’s secrets are meant for any pony's eyes.” replied Rarity with wet eyes.         “Indeed, but… Fluttershy doesn’t have the ability to share with everypony just what her secret is.” said Twilight. Rarity was beginning to get curious about what was written on Fluttershy’s house, but she felt herself nod after realizing that what Twilight was speaking was correct. “I feel that it should only be those who need to, and that any other eyes are unnecessary.”         Rarity huffed. “Quite the hypocrite, aren’t we? I’m positive that you saw it.” Twilight hardened her gaze, and Rarity could have sworn that Pinkie did as well. “I do not need or wish to know, I’m just stating facts.”         Pinkie’s attempts to cheer up Fluttershy were in vain, so she turned her attention to the two other mares. “I’m okay with that.” Pinkie still had the smile on her face, however her voice didn’t match. It seemed conscious and concerned, instead of bubbly and loud. It was as if another voice was hidden somewhere inside her original one. She playfully waved a hoof at Fluttershy for emphasis. “We’re all going through something tough here, but Fluttershy is the most vulnerable of all of us. She doesn’t need the emotional trauma.” Twilight waited for Fluttershy to say something, but it was apparent that the pegasus was not listening to their conversation. She had her mane over her ears, like she always did when she was distressed.         Twilight nodded thoughtfully. “So let’s split up. Rarity, could you go and try to find Applejack and calm her down?” Twilight knew that Rarity would learn Fluttershy’s secret if she talked to Applejack, but what Fluttershy didn’t know wouldn’t kill her. Rarity nodded, and unstuck herself from the still sobbing mare.         “O-Okay…” she stammered, looking down at the ground. “I’ll be back soon. Let’s meet up at the library in a couple of hours, alright?” she added. Twilight nodded with a small smile. Pinkie Pie waved cheerfully, but Rarity didn’t seem to notice. Without another word, Rarity staggered leerily back into the fog. Twilight turned her attention to Pinkie.         “Ooooh! What can I do?” Pinkie’s voice was so upbeat that it was actually beginning to hurt the unicorn.         “Do you think you could go and search for Rainbow Dash? She’s bound to be around here somewhere, and I’m sure it’ll be a cinch for you to find her.” Pinkie brought her hoof to her forehead in some kind of silly salute which Twilight took as a yes. “Great, like we agreed, library in two hours.”         “Okey dokey, artichokey!” In a flash of pink, Pinkie was off.         There was a long pause as Twilight stared down at Fluttershy. She didn’t know what to say at all, but since Fluttershy was no longer crying, she forced herself to rethink her options. Fluttershy simply sat there, her head in her hooves and her nose almost touching the soft dirt. Every time she breathed, some of the soil shifted.         “Fluttershy? How are you feeling?” Twilight asked after a few unbearable seconds. Fluttershy said nothing for a good, long while. Twilight was slightly surprised that the mare had opened her mouth at all. When Fluttershy did speak, however, her voice was quiet and cracked.         “I-I’m s-s-so s-sorry…” Fluttershy gasped for breath between every stutter. She lifted up her head, and attempted to dry her face. Twilight was devastated at the sight of her. Her mane was no longer smooth and beautiful, and it looked like she had just woken up from a nap. Even her eyes had become sunken and depressed. Fluttershy sniffled. “It was an accident, I-I promise!”         “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s go back to your cottage and get you all cleaned up. Then we can sit down for a while.” Twilight whispered. ***         Rainbow Dash could only let out a sigh.         “Rarity, why?” she told herself. It was useless. Asking herself questions that she could not answer was pointless. She had woken up late that morning, like usual, and spent every waking moment after that panicking because of the words marring her home. She held two nails in her mouth and floated near the bright lights shining from Carousel Boutique. Her wings fluttered slowly, just enough so that she could remain in place. “Come on, come on!” she mumbled hurriedly to herself. It was difficult to speak with the nails in her mouth, so her words came out slightly muffled.         She placed a nail in the hole on the bottom left hole of the tarp she was holding and began to hammer. It was a restless and paranoia-filled job, but somepony had to do it. She couldn’t let her friends suffer like this, and, even though it was only rarely that she ever happened to notice it, her conscience was telling her to do her best to help them. Rainbow Dash had already read Rarity’s secret, but she was more than confused about it. Without the mare in question there to explain it, Rainbow was left in the dust. All she had left was to simply wonder what any of it meant, however deep inside she really didn’t want to know. She was already planning out who’s house she was going to hit next, and Fluttershy’s was relatively close. “C’mon, you stupid thing!” she murmured, carefully maneuvering the nail in her mouth so that she didn’t drop it, or accidentally stab her tongue. She needed to hurry. She could have sworn that she heard chatter not too long ago from not very far away. “Rainbow Daaaash?” a high voice called from the fog as if right on cue. Rainbow Dash jumped and her wings instantly locked up. She tumbled to the ground with an “Oomph!”, and landed hard on the stone pathway leading to the Carousel Boutique. Luckily, the fall wasn’t from very high and Rainbow wasn’t hurt too badly. It took her a fraction of a second to get back to her hooves, only for her to begin to panic again. “Oh no!” she whimpered. She needed to hide, quickly. She knew that high pitched voice anywhere. There was no way that she could let Pinkie see what she was doing. The sound of a single pony’s hooves meeting gravel filled the air, causing Dash to look left and right for an escape route. She looked at the tarp hanging crookedly above her. She’d have to come back later to finish the job. “Um… um…” she didn’t know where to fly. She couldn’t fly home. She was positive that her friends had went there earlier, and who knows if somepony was still lingering around there. She doubted that her friends would be so nosy as to remove that tarp she had placed there, but she couldn’t be too sure. Rainbow Dash had no place to go. The fog was thick, but she would be easily spotted if she tried to zoom off. She thought for a good excuse as to why she was outside of Rarity’s business, seeing that Pinkie’s arrival was inevitable anyways. Much to Rainbow’s chagrin, Pinkie peeked through the fog sooner than she would have liked. Pinkie’s face lit up like a lightbulb upon the sight of her multi-colored, yet pale, friend. Rainbow Dash realized at the last second to remove her back from the wall of Carousel Boutique. She coughed, and regained her composure. “Dashie! There you are!” Pinkie practically hopped in place, before making her way over to Rainbow Dash. She was bright and smiling, and to Rainbow, nothing looked unusual about her. The pegasus sat on her haunches and wiped a bit of dirt from her chest, evidence of her fall earlier. “Oh, hey Pinkie.” Rainbow said, looking at her hoof and every other way that was not in the pink mare’s direction. Rainbow tried to pay no attention to her, silently hoping that Pinkie would simply toddle off. “The girls and I have been looking for you for a while now!” Pinkie stated in a high voice. Rainbow Dash rubbed at her ears and groaned. “Yeah, I… uh, woke up late this morning.” Dash said truthfully. “Pretty weird day, huh? All this fog and stuff…” Rainbow Dash knew that fog was not in today’s forecast. However, she was not a complete idiot. She didn’t even attempt to clear up the sky, for fear of her secret being broadcasted to the whole town. She didn’t know how much longer that tarp would hold up. She wasn’t the best when it came to construction. “Oh, yeah! It’s been a real sad day for everypony.” Pinkie’s face contorted into a frown, yet the happy gleam still remained in her eyes. Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell what Pinkie’s true emotion was through her mockery. “Everypony has their secrets on their house and-” Pinkie paused for a moment, and sighed. Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow, and was surprised when Pinkie’s voice shifted into a gristly, hollow form of its original self. “It’s the worst day of our lives, Dashie.” Rainbow faltered for words. “I… I had a feeling.” “I don’t exactly view my secret as true,” Pinkie said purposefully. There was a ding that rang out in the distance. Pinkie knew what that meant. She pointed in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, where her secret shone brightly. “But I have no say in it anymore. I feel that since we have been good friends for a while, that you deserve to know just what’s holding me back.” Rainbow Dash was not speaking for two reasons. The first was the fact that she Pinkie’s secret was poking through the fog like a beacon, the red words shining through and hitting her heart like a depressing ray. I DON’T HAVE THE COURAGE TO SHOW EVERYPONY MY TRUE SELF Rainbow took one look at Pinkie, and put the pieces together. Pinkie was looking at the ground and sighing. She had never heard the mare speak this way before. Her words were full of heartbreak and misery, Rainbow Dash couldn’t deny that. The second was the fact that Pinkie outright told her what was happening. She didn’t dodge the question, or try and stall for time like she had been doing. Pinkie deemed Rainbow Dash as her best friend, and since everypony else had seen just what was killing her inside, Rainbow needed to know as well. Pinkie was searching for help, and she saw it inside of Rainbow Dash. Pinkie turned back to Rainbow Dash and looked up at the Boutique. “Dashie, why are you putting a tarp over Rarity’s secret?” Rainbow broke out into a cold sweat. She stammered for the right words, but after a quick second, she rethought everything. She didn’t need to lie to Pinkie. The mare never did anything to hurt her, and was looking for a salvation inside of her as well. She decided that telling the truth could only do good at this point. “Is this where you’ve been all day?” Pinkie added in a curious voice. Rainbow slowly nodded, and looked pitifully at the dirt. “Yes. I was trying to do some good while you girls were out.” Rainbow felt a tinge of pain inside of her when Pinkie’s face changed into that of pure shock. “W-Why would you do that?” Rainbow almost felt like she was talking to a new pony altogether. No happiness, no bubbliness, just the truth. “What do you mean?” “Why would you try and cover up our secrets?” Pinkie asked again. “Covering up the secrets that were holding us back only drag us down more, Dashie. Nopony tried to cover up their secrets because they were true. Some ponies were so desperate as to start fires, but those with the will to change left theirs up.” she turned back to the words on Rarity’s Boutique. “You’re not doing Rarity a favor, you’re hurting her chances of changing.” The way Pinkie spoke almost made Rainbow Dash tear up. The old Pinkie was a facade, she knew that now. “I-I was just trying to help, honest!” Rainbow Dash genuinely felt sorry for herself. “I thought if nopony could see them, then everything would be alright until we sort this out. ...I’ll take down the tarp.” Pinkie watched with a small smile as Rainbow took her hammer and dug out the nails keeping the tarp up. It only took a few moments for the tarp to flutter to the ground. “Rarity needs to deal with her secret on her own. She doesn’t need us all to cover it up, but she needs us to be there for her.” Rainbow never knew that Pinkie had the ability to speak the way she did, and it filled Rainbow with a new admiration. “Look, Pinkie.” Rainbow started, after landing softly back on the ground. “I want to say thank you, for everything you’ve done for me. You shared your secret with me at the drop of a hat, and… it’s not fair if I don’t return the favor, right? Follow me.” Pinkie cocked her head as Dash began to slowly fly away, taking her time so that the earth pony could keep up with little effort. Rainbow Dash knew exactly what to do, and how to do it. Twenty minutes or so later Rainbow Dash and Pinkie arrived at Rainbow’s cloud home. It was dreary as ever, but Rainbow didn’t care. Rainbow spoke no words as she lifted Pinkie onto her back. Pinkie, surprisingly, stayed silent, a brand new smile painting her face. Rainbow Dash went to work removing the nails in the tarp. She took her hammer in hoof, and wasted absolutely no time. The words underneath were finally going to be revealed to one of her closest friends, and she felt relieved. It only took Rainbow Dash a minute or so until the words were visible. She only needed to take out the two nails in the top of the tarp for the entire thing to fold over and reveal what was underneath. For a moment, Pinkie refused to look at the words and could only stare soft-eyed at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow flew back to the grass under the cloud house and slid Pinkie off of her back. “Well… here you go…” Rainbow said dejectedly, a heavy sigh coming from her mouth. Pinkie turned her gaze to the words that lit up the evening sky. I USE MY SEXUALITY AS A WAY TO GET REVENGE ON MY PARENTS Pinkie glanced from the words, to Rainbow Dash, and back again multiple times. “Uhm…” was all that the mare could utter. Rainbow Dash slid the tip of her hoof through the dirt. “Yeah, go ahead. Make fun of me, call me names, I don’t care anymore. I’ve heard it all before.”         Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie was more confused than concerned. She knew what the words read, she just couldn’t piece them together efficiently enough to form any sort of conclusion. So, she took a shot in the dark. “Dashie, I didn’t know you…” Pinkie hesitated. “Liked… mares…?”         Pinkie instantly regretted saying that when Rainbow Dash sharply raised her head to glare daggers at the earth pony. “No.” she uttered sharply. “I’m not gay.”         Pinkie cocked an eyebrow. She wasn’t too much concerned with how she phrased her words. All Pinkie wanted was some kind of explanation. “But... your secret says so.”         Rainbow Dash grunted loudly, and shook her head so furiously that her mane became frazzled and unkempt. “I said I’m not gay!” she shouted. Pinkie frowned and took a step back, and Rainbow let out a defeated sigh. She took the hint.         “Dashie…”         “I’m not, it’s just…” Rainbow didn’t know how to start, but eventually it all came to mind. “Back when I was a teen, that was when it all started. I loved my parents a lot, but I grew distant. I didn’t need them, I would think to myself. They were clingy and embarrassing.” She looked at Pinkie with tear-filled eyes, refusing to let any fall. As long as they didn’t fall, she wasn’t crying. “I was stupid, and I did really dumb and bad things that my parents didn’t like. I went out to parties, I snuck out of the house at night, I skipped school... the works. My parents eventually caught on though, and they weren’t happy about it.”         Pinkie could only watch as Rainbow Dash choked over her words, the rough barricade that the pegasus had created was beginning to fall down in a mighty crash. “I hated them so much. I didn’t care about them, or myself, even though they just wanted what was best for me. I did know that they only truly hoped for one thing, and that was to be grandparents. I heard them talking about it at night when I was supposed to be asleep."         Pinkie was starting to catch on.         “They were so happy when I went on my first date the year before with some colt. They took pictures, picked out an outfit, and sent me on my way. I will never forget that. But a week later, when I came home from my friend’s house at two in the morning. I don’t know why, but I was just so angry, and even though they were upset at me coming home so late, my parents didn’t even yell at me. They just said they were disappointed, nothing more, nothing less. I knew what would devastate them, and I used it to my advantage. I screamed that I hated them, and that I wasn’t interested in dating stallions.”         Pinkie’s frown came into view again, but she flipped it over. She took a step closer to Rainbow Dash, who still hadn’t let a single tear fall from her eyes. “They were heartbroken, and I smiled when I realized that I had won an arguement that shouldn’t have even happened in the first place. They never looked at me the same after that. They were always quiet and submissive whenever I went out with a friend, especially if it was a mare. I had won, Pinkie. I never went on another date, just to keep up the lie. I never told them the truth…”         There was a long pause, before Pinkie put a hoof on Rainbow’s side. “You know, you can cry if you want.” Pinkie said encouragingly. Rainbow wiped away the tears that had been forming in her eyes, leaving no traces. She put on a brave face.         “I don’t cry, alright?” she cracked. “I don’t even have a reason to anymore-” Rainbow was cut off when a ding was heard, and the letters behind her grew noticeably brighter. Rainbow Dash sighed, barely even paying attention. “I don’t even talk to my parents anymore…”         “You don’t need to cry,” Pinkie said, bringing her best friend in for a hug. Rainbow didn’t object, and wrapped her hooves around her pink companion. “But I think your secret wants you to.”         Pinkie felt something warm drip onto her fur not even two seconds later. That realization, truly, made her smile. ***         “Are you ready?” Twilight asked. She was sitting on a small pink chair in Fluttershy’s living room, while the pony in question was lying, huddled under a blanket, on the couch at the other side of the room. It had taken Twilight much longer than she had liked to calm the mare down. She had made the mistake of asking Fluttershy to clean herself up in the shower. It proved to be flawed when Fluttershy refused to come back out.         Fluttershy was sipping from a mug filled with hot chocolate. Her eyes were still low and darkened, but her mood seemed to slightly improve. “I-I don’t know about this…”         Twilight responded by taking out a notepad and a pencil. She was ready for this. “It’s the only way, Fluttershy. All you have to do is talk, and when things get too emotional for you, we can stop and try again later, alright?”         Fluttershy kicked around the inside of the blanket for minute, rubbing her thighs together awkwardly before she nodded. “Okay, Twilight, I’m ready.” Twilight brought the pencil to the notebook, and patiently waited. “I was a child at the time…” ***         Fluttershy’s childhood was grand, for the most part. Her mane and tail were much shorter than when she would become an adult, however she was much taller than those her age. She hated that. It made her stand out more.         After discovering her love for the ground, she somehow managed to convince her parents to let her come down from Cloudsdale every now and then into the nearest town of Ponyville. Her parents thought that this would be a great idea, and that she could even make some friends in the process. Fluttershy, however, had seen this as a win-lose situation, but she didn’t argue.         After two months of rushing out of school at breakneck speed just to gain extra time to traverse the ground, she had only made one friend. She wasn’t very happy about him, but she had to at least make one friend, or risk losing her ground privileges for good.         He was loud, obnoxious, and a clown. However, he approached her that day in class, and she really didn’t have the heart to reject him. She needed a friend, and he considered her one. There was nothing to complain about, even though Sticks would occasionally make fun of her timidness. He had a sleek, yet incredibly soft inky black mane, as well as a bumblebee yellow body to boot. He didn’t even have his cutie mark yet, though Fluttershy was eager to talk with him about just what he aspired to be when he did get it.         Almost every day, Fluttershy would sneak away from him when school ended, and make her way down to Ponyville. It was a tedious journey, as she was still not the best flier. However, she got better and better with each trip.         One day, she was followed. She had no idea, but she had learned too late. She was roaming around the Ponyville marketplace when she saw a yellow blur run up to her, and a very familiar voice. Fluttershy almost had a panic attack.         “Hey! Wait up, will ya?” Sticks shouted, his unnaturally high voice almost hurting the poor pegasus’ ears. The colt had an annoying mischievous grin on his face that Fluttershy was scared to see.         “Sticks? What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked once she had gotten her bearings. She didn’t know whether to be surprised or irritated.         “So... this is where you run off to!” he announced, loud and proud. Fluttershy tried to shush him, but he didn’t seem to hear her. It wasn’t until later that Fluttershy realized that it really didn’t matter if anypony in town heard her anyways, and that it was just her paranoia getting to her again. “I always wondered where you zoomed off to every day!”         “Why would you follow me?” Fluttershy was already close to crying at this point. She really hadn’t want anypony to know where she went. Even though the ground was already occupied by many others, she still thought of it as her own special place. Somewhere for her to relax and enjoy the life and nature on the ground.         “I was bored, that’s why.” He poked Fluttershy’s chest roughly, almost sending her sprawling to the ground. Fluttershy squeaked loudly, and brought a hoof to her aching chest. “I’ve never been down here before! Come on! Let’s have some fun!” he shouted, turning and running off down the street.         “W-Wait! I don’t think that’s is a good idea…” Fluttershy stayed put. Sticks wasn’t amused, and stopped running for a moment to glare at her.         “Don’t be a pansy! Surely there’s tons of things that we can do down here!” he walked back to Fluttershy with an angry look in his eyes.         “I… I don’t want to anymore. I-I’m going home.” Fluttershy began to slowly flap her wings, but Sticks reached her first. With an angry tug, he pulled Fluttershy back to the ground, and shoved her in the direction he wanted to go.         “You’re not going anywhere!” he shouted. Somehow, none of the ponies nearby managed to hear him. “Now that you have company you’re just gonna chicken out? Not on my watch!” He pushed her again, and Fluttershy meekly obeyed. She walked down the street on her own, a few tears gathering in her eyes.         “Come on. We’re gonna have some fun! Even if it kills us!” ***         The rest of that evening had been horrible.         Fluttershy had never felt so depressed, being forced to wander around the ground, her sacred place, with her so-called best friend. She didn’t really do anything, deciding instead to remain mainly in the background while Sticks did less than kind things to unsuspecting ponies. He had already taken a few apples from a stand while the merchant wasn’t looking. He made off with a few bits worth of the fruit, and Fluttershy’s heart felt heavy.         No matter what Fluttershy said, Sticks refused to listen to her pleas. Sticks was having too much fun to control himself. He knew that there was no way he could get in trouble, seeing as he wasn’t even from the area. He viewed it as a free pass, and Fluttershy couldn’t have been more afraid of this.         Sticks bit down on his third apple. “Wow, that mare is stupid.” he exclaimed through a mouthful of fruit. Fluttershy turned to the ground, not agreeing and afraid to say anything about it. “I was right freakin’ there. It’s like she was practically letting me take them!”         Fluttershy didn’t reply. She just stared pitifully at the ground. She already knew why the merchant didn’t see: Ponyville was a very peaceful town with little to no crime. Surely the mare didn’t expect somepony to steal from her stand while she was standing right there. Fluttershy had roamed around enough beforehand to know this.         They had found a desolate spot in the woods nearest town, and Sticks wanted to rest for a bit. Fluttershy didn’t like the woods, she was certain she could hear things growling. Sticks continued to ramble on despite how quiet Fluttershy was being. He sat against a tree stump and stared distractedly at the branches above him.         After a minute, Fluttershy tuned Sticks out. She was lost in her own mind, and she was dreading it. She was regretting coming to Ponyville today, even though there was nothing that could have been done to stop her initially. Now her place of peace was being ruined by somepony who didn’t even deserve to be there.         “What do you wanna do, Fluttershy?” The filly in question poked her head up as soon as she heard her name. Sticks was staring at her with those devious emerald eyes of his, the one that she had come to dislike. Fluttershy didn’t know where he got them, but he was holding a pack of matches in his hooves. The buttermilk pegasus did not question it.         “Uh… I… I wanna go home…” Fluttershy stammered. Sticks simply scoffed, and rolled his eyes.         “Yeah, yeah ‘I don’t wanna be here!’, myeh myeh myeh!” he mimicked with his tongue lolling out. Fluttershy pursed her lips and felt a tear well up in her eye when she realized that she was being mocked. “Well, I’m having fun down here. Let’s go and do something dangerous!”         To Fluttershy’s surprise, the colt held up his matches into the air. Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat. “W-What do you plan on doing with t-those?” Somehow, Fluttershy had viewed his matches as something unimportant, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he had simply found them and wasn’t planning on doing anything horrible. She had never been so wrong.         “That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Let’s go and… I dunno…” Sticks searched through his pea-brain desperately for something that they could do. Fluttershy shuddered when his face finally lit up. She had never realized that the colt looked so… devilish.         “...burn something?”         Fluttershy’s heart stopped entirely, and there had been a moment where they had simply stared at each other. One face shone of true malice, while the other feared for its life. “I...I…” Fluttershy stuttered. She was in no way expecting Sticks to say something like that, or now that he had the ability to actually do something of that very same nature. Sticks beckoned to her, leaning closer with a grand smile.         “Come on!” he pleaded. “It’ll be fun! You don’t even have to start them, I’ll do all the work!” Sticks eye twitched, and Fluttershy jumped off of her haunches. She looked left and right, as if she was plotting an escape route.         “Why? Why would you say something like that? Matches aren’t toys!” Fluttershy repeated the direct words of her mother. One time, Fluttershy had tried to light an incense burner inside of her room while nobody was home. Needless to say, her curtains were ruined.         “Because there’s nothing better to do! That’s why!” Sticks was getting noticeably angry and began gritting his teeth in irritation.         “I… I don’t wanna!”         The malicious smile on Sticks’ face grew to that of a tired smirk. “Fluttershy, you wanna know why I’m your only friend?” Fluttershy’s fear remained even when she cocked her head. “Because no one else has the patience to put up with you. You’re no fun! You’re so shy and boring that everypony would rather do homework instead of hang out with you!”         Sticks jumped in front of the filly, causing her to fall on to her back. Fluttershy squeaked involuntarily. “But I thought ‘hey, I’m going to give her a chance! I’m going to try and be her friend’, and I shoulda known better! I try my best to amuse you and make you laugh, but no! You just continue to try and hide from me!” Fluttershy, for the life of her, could not understand what he was talking about. Sticks’ eyes hardened.         “Nopony likes you! That Rainbow chick might’ve stood up for you that one time, but has she ever talked to you since? I don’t think so!” Sticks brought his face closer to Fluttershy, and their noses were practically touching. Fluttershy tried to shy away, but it was in vain. Tears freely fell from the filly’s eyes, and landed on the dew-ridden leaves below. “I try my best to befriend you, and this is how you repay me? Is this how you treat your one and only friend?”         There was a pause as Sticks waited for the filly to reply. Fluttershy never caught on. She just stared at him with awfully wide eyes. She jumped when Sticks yelled at her: “Well!?”         Fluttershy tried to speak, but her words kept jumping as she struggled to breath through her tears. “I… I don’t want to hurt anypony… please just leave me alone!”         Sticks reeled back, and clocked the mare in the bottom of the chin with strong hoof. A loud “crack” was heard as he connected with her face. Fluttershy’s head flew back, and the tears flows freely as she clutched her aching jaw. For a moment, she was afraid for her life. She expected the punches to keep coming, to impale her flesh and take her soul right out of her body. However, there was no more. Fluttershy could taste copper in her mouth.         “Stupid filly! Freakin’ stupid is what you are!” He broke eye contact and walked away in the direction of a locally known farm. “Fine! I don’t need you! I can have fun on my own! I’ll make sure to tell everypony in school that you’re even more of a chicken than you let on, and how you stole all of those apples from the merchant!”         Fluttershy said nothing. She continued to shake on the ground, like a scared puppy. She knew that Sticks wasn’t lying. He would blame everything on her, and everypony would believe him. But there was nothing she could do. She was too afraid to stop him and to stand up for herself. In a flash, Sticks disappeared. ***         “It was the next morning.” Fluttershy took a sip of her hot chocolate, trying to warm up despite the fact that she was violently shivering. “I went into school the next morning only to see Sticks’ desk was empty”         Twilight had stopped writing down notes a long time ago. She didn’t feel the need to anymore. All she could do was listen. “What happened to Sticks, Fluttershy?”         A tear rolled down Fluttershy’s cheek. “He never came back. He burned down one of the barns at Sweet Apple Acres, the one that Applejack’s parent’s were tending their farm animals in…” Fluttershy tried her best to regain her composure, but she was faltering. “Everything burned. Her parents, the animals… even Sticks.”         Twilight resisted the urge to drop her jaw.         “Because of me… my inaction, I got two innocent ponies killed, five farm animals, and one little colt who didn’t know any better.” Fluttershy sat up on the couch, only to stare at the maple floor. “I think about it every night. I think about what I could have done to stop him before he did what he did. I was too afraid. It’s why I don’t like going inside of the Everfree. It reminds me of the horrible thing that happened because of me. Sometimes when I go into the woods there, I’m certain that I can feel the spot he hit me ache."         Twilight only had one question, and after some self-urging, she opened her mouth. “Fluttershy, why do you live so close to Everfree forest?”         Fluttershy looked up, locking eyes with the unicorn on the other side of the carpet. She gave a weak and empty smile.         “My memories can only keep me away for so long.” ***         “Why should ah care?” replied the same country voice that Rarity had come to grow accustomed to. The unicorn sighed. It had been a hopeless ten minutes of trying to talk to Applejack, and nothing was going well. Rarity and Applejack had gone into the latter’s room so that Applebloom and Big Mac wouldn’t  overhear their conversation.         “What do you possibly mean? I’m sure it was an accident, Applejack.” Rarity said, having since learned of Fluttershy’s secret. “It did say ‘indirectly’ after all…” Applejack stomped her hoof. “That doesn’t mean anything!” she roared. “She’s still responsible, and Ah’m not gonna let ‘er git away with this! Ah’ll go to the police if ah have to!”         “Fluttershy is your friend.” Applejack opened her mouth. However, Rarity already knew what her response was, so she purposefully continued talking. “You know that she would never do anything like that on purpose. Remember who we’re talking about, dear.”         “Ah do recall, loud an’ clear! We’re talkin’ about a murderer! That’s who!” Applejack grit her teeth, and Rarity could hear them grind against themselves.         “Fluttershy is not a murderer!” Rarity was beginning to get frustrated. She was not in the mood to argue with Applejack about this. “You would learn that if you went back to her cottage and talked to her.”         “Do ya know what she put me through? Mah family, Rarity?” Applejack appeared to calm down, but deep inside Rarity knew that there was still a fire in there. The unicorn sighed, tiredly. “Granny Smith had to raise all three of us like we were her own. She worked those fields for hours on end, just to have enough money to feed ‘er gran’kids! She would go out there at dawn an’ not come back until next mornin’!”         “Applejack, ple-”         “No! Granny Smith worked herself to the bone! Most nights, she didn’t have enough food to feed herself. Just us. She’d go to bed hungry only to git up in the mornin’ and start all over! Ya don’t understand, Rarity!”         “I-”         “If it wasn’t for Fluttershy, ah would have my parents, and mah sister would have ah better role model! Fluttershy got two a’ us! Two of the Apples!” Applejack’s face drooped, and she looked out the nearby window. “But really, she managed to kill six.”         “Applejack, you are a great role model for Applebloom. I know for a fact that she looks up to you, and strives to be just like her big sister.” Rarity finally managed to slip a few words in edgewise, and she was careful about which ones they were. “Your life turned out fine, and you are fully capable to taking the workload off of your grandmother’s back. She took care of you, and now you can return the favor.”         “She’d have ah better role model, then..” The country mare paid no attention to anything Rarity said beyond that point. Applejack felt a rage burn inside of her heart. Her eyes were glazed and more or less pitiless. Applejack felt dead inside, and she knew just how to fix it. “Fluttershy took two lives away from me.” Rarity took a fearful step back. Something inside her dear friend had snapped, she could tell.         “A-Applejack...?”         “And now ah’m goin’ to take one from her.”